 February - April 2005
Distant Lover
by Gloria Mallette
Gloria Mallette’s newest book, Distant Lover doesn’t disappoint. Fresh on the heels of The Honey Well, it taps into the realm of infidelity, redeeming familial values and the need to bridge gaps and bring love closer to answers that were too far away to understand. In any compelling story, how an author paints pictures to fuel subplots and character embellishments often sets the tone for temperaments to define setting. At the heart of this story is Tandi Newton’s fragile disposition which defines no love from those that are closest to her. She’s a tragic figure who wrestles with inner turmoil that surfaces more often than not while dealing with a cheating husband, a loveless relationship with her father, and never being the recipient of real maternal love.
This story is full of twists and turns but never strays from the theme that gives it flavor. Witness the angst she faces dealing with a taciturn, if not indifferent father with problems of his own, or issues with no tangible results relative to fantasizing about an infatuated love interest 20 years in the past. This alludes to second-guessing whether her first fling at love with him would have been a better choice. Moreover, drawn to the questions that were never answered during her childhood -- the unexplained enigma surrounding her mother’s death, why her father insisted on quashing the truth, keeps you more than interested. On top of all this, Tandi realizes that nothing in her world is working for the better as she seeks inner peace and a sense of tranquility. The book moves at a moderate pace with enough ebb and flow to give it enough intrigue to keep pages turning.
The secondary characters adds a good balance as we find her husband Jared, a weak and flawed personality perpetually trying to regain favor; Brent, a good for nothing brother who Tandi mistakenly thought would be the answer to unrequited love; and Evonne, who had agendas of her own realizing that Tandi is vulnerable and uses this to propel her actions. I admit having to reread portions of the book to get the real gist of this story. I learned at the behest of friends who corrected me and threw such gems as -- “it’s what Tandi learns about herself, her mother and father’s relationship which is the root of all of her problems….and, “a mother’s love is so pivotal to our lives that so much of the love or lack of same that Tandi experiences throughout this novel is distant for a variety of reasons”. And suffice it to say, I agree wholeheartedly! I loved this book because it’s a story that the average reader can relate to and grist to the mill of a fantastic storyteller. Buy this book!
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